Pickup trucks and vehicles having open cargo compartments are used extensively for transporting purposes. Apparatuses have been developed to organize the cargo space and to minimize the motion of transported articles located therein during periods of transit. Such transported articles often need to be protected from inclement weather, so covering the cargo compartment becomes important. When many different articles are being transported at the same time, segregating the articles is also an important consideration. U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,828 to Craft and U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,717 to Garvert disclose apparatus for use in pickup truck cargo beds. Craft discloses a pickup bed cap having access doors. Garvert has a pickup truck cargo compartment cover which includes hinged doors. A tool box is located beneath the doors. Neither Craft nor Garvert disclose drawers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,364 to Rafi-Zadeh discloses a toolbox for a pickup truck which has a cover. The toolbox is provided with drawers; however, the drawers travel lengthwise along a line of forward and rearward motion of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 2,784,272 to Temp discloses a drawer unit for a pickup truck wherein a table forming drawer is provided to slide rearwardly outward from the pickup truck bed. Neither Rafi-Zadeh nor Temp disclose drawers which are slidable in directions transverse to the line of forward and rearward motion of the vehicle.
Drawers and their support structure in relation to stationary cabinets are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,385 to Hone and U.S. Pat. No. 2,716,946 to Minturn disclose drawers mounted beneath a countertop that may be pulled outwardly from either side of the counter. Neither of the drawers disclosed in Hone or Minturn are intended to be used in combination with a moving vehicle.
There is a need in the art for a pickup truck cargo compartment organizer which provides for maximum utility of the cargo space. Such a structure would provide organization and utility for the upper as well as lower regions of the cargo space in addition to protection from inclement weather.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a pickup truck organizing apparatus having drawers slidable in the upper reaches of the cargo space wherein the drawers slide transverse to the forward and rearward line of motion of the vehicle.
It is another object of the invention to provide cover means for such drawers wherein the cover means provide drainage for water and do not obscure the rear cab window of a pickup truck.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a pickup truck organizing apparatus wherein the drawers are slidable away from the sides of a cargo compartment to provide access between the support rails of the drawers to cargo space located below.
It is still another object of the invention to provide organizing apparatus on the bottom wall of a pickup truck cargo compartment to provide for organizing transported apparatus located in lower reaches of the cargo space.
These and other and further objects and features of the invention are apparent in the disclosure, which includes the foregoing and following specification, claims and drawings.